From The Campaign Trail, Special Edition.

So That Years From Now ...... when Little Miss Capitol Ideas asks us to name the precise moment that the people running Campaign 2008 officially ran out of things to attack each other with, we'll have an answer: Here's a press release from the Republican National Committee. And, yes, we swear we're not making this up:

"After repeatedly saying he would root for the Phillies in
the World Series, Barack Obama switched teams while campaigning in Tampa
today…

Moments
ago:
"I’ve said from the beginning that I am a unity candidate, bringing
people together. So when you see a White Sox fan showing love to the Rays. And
the Rays showing some love back – you know we are on to something right
here.” – Barack Obama in Tampa

Earlier: "I am a White Sox fan, but since the White Sox are
out of it, I'll root for the Phillies now."

"I think that I’m going to have to root
for Philly potentially because my campaign manager is a fanatical Phillies fan
and I don’t want him mad at me for the next few weeks."
Barack
Obama interview with FOX-13 TV.

Okay ... So, a few thoughts occur to us. First, there's nothing else going on today? This is what you choose to whack him with? Second, this was obviously written by someone with no knowledge of baseball. If there's an American League team in the post-season, and your team is an AL team, you always root for the AL team. Rooting for an NL team to win it all when you're an AL fan is perverse and wrong.*

Folks, and we only say this because we care, just because you CAN send out a press release, doesn't mean you SHOULD send out a press release. We hope you've learned a valuable lesson here.

(*Dept of Full Disclosure: Although we are lifelong New York Yankee fans, we were all set to root for the Chicago Cubs in the post-season. This is because even though we may be American League fans through-and-through, there is no way we'd entertain the possibility of rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series.)

If the Red Sox were in the series right now, we'd be rooting for whoever they were playing against (with the absolute exception of the Phillies, see our final point below) -- be it the Cubs or the Harrisburg Senators. Our disdain for the team from Boston knows no bounds.

But seriously, the Tampa Rays v. the Phillies? We got no dog in this hunt. Therefore, it's the American League club all the way.

Your second rule is inoperable here due to our deep and abiding disdain for athletic teams from Philadelphia (we point you to the Great Ron Francis Booing Incident of 2002 for explanation).

If it were the Pirates in the series, surely a storied club if there ever was one, we'd consider it.

The only problem is, if the Pirates were in the Series we'd be too busy preparing for the Earth to plunge into the sun to enjoy the games.

I think you are wrong, the order of picking teams, when your team is out is:

1) Root against your hated enemy.
2) Root for a team most deserving - a long history of losing, a classy organization, a likeable group of players, etc.
3) Root for a team from your team's conference/league/division - proving that your team played amongst the best in the game.

As this new release proves - "If you are running for president, root for a team whose state has more electoral votes and/or is closer in the latest polls" clearly supersedes this prior set of rules.